Realmheart

|Gary|

Darkness surrounded me once again, and I found myself adrift in its emptiness.

'Am I dead?' I thought, but quickly shook off the notion. If I had died, I wouldn't want to come back. I was exhausted, tired of life.

Then, a beam of light pierced through the darkness, dissipating it and filling my senses with its warmth.

As my eyes fluttered open, I realized I was in a familiar room.

"Gary, you're awake!" My mother's voice was filled with relief as she embraced me, her snow-white hair cascading over me.

After a moment, I pulled away and asked her, "What do you mean 'finally' woke up?"

"You've been in a coma for two months," my father answered, entering the room with his usual stoic expression. Dark circles had formed under his eyes.

My shock was palpable, even under the effects of Monarch's Indifference. I quickly inspected my body with mana and found that my primary core had broken through to the mid-silver stage, while my secondary core remained unchanged, but cracks had formed around the yellow exterior.

I couldn't help but wonder why she had helped me so much.

|Arthur|

I snapped my eyes open and quickly rose to my feet, taking in my surroundings. The room was bathed in an eerie purple light that was neither too bright nor too dim, giving me an unsettling feeling.

I noticed that my connection with Sylvie was cut off, which added to my growing sense of unease.

Suddenly, a hologram appeared before me, revealing the same woman I had encountered after clearing the illusion of Cecily and Nico. She had fluffy white hair, a pale face that exuded authority, pure black eyes that seemed to resemble the void, and a thin frame that nevertheless radiated power even in her relaxed posture.

Her commanding voice resonated throughout the room as she spoke, "You will only be free once you have achieved a high enough mastery of Realmheart."

I was left with numerous questions swirling around in my head. Who was she? How could she be so powerful? And what exactly was Realmheart?

Despite my curiosity, I knew that my immediate priority was to focus on the task at hand. The woman's power was too great to ignore, and I didn't sense any immediate danger from her.

Suddenly, a memory of Realmheart flooded my mind, prompting me to wonder if the woman had imparted this knowledge to me.

Without wasting any time, I began to analyze the information that had been given to me, determined to fulfill the woman's demand and earn my freedom.

A surge of knowledge flooded my mind as I delved deeper into the understanding of aether, the second fundamental particle of the universe. Its three branches, spatium, aevum, and vivum, governed space, time, and life, respectively. As a recipient of Sylvia's dragon powers, I inherited her ability to control aether, albeit limited to one branch.

My mind was racing with the new information that I learned about Realmheart. It was a power that allowed users to see the particles of mana and aether, granting them a greater understanding and attunement to the physical world. The higher the mastery of Realmheart, the greater the insight and utilization of ambient mana.

"Feel the mana in its purest form," echoed in my mind, and suddenly the world around me darkened. I was floating in a void, similar to the one before my reincarnation. The forces of purple aether and rainbow mana danced in harmony, but I couldn't discern their interaction's mysterious tune.

Despite my limited understanding of aether, the woman who had captured me had a reason for showing me this. Her message was clear: master the power of Realmheart.

Realization dawned on me. Aether was reality itself, and each of its branches represented a fundamental aspect of the universe. Vivum was life, spatium was space, and aevum was time. I used Sylvia's beast will, Static Void, which allowed me to borrow her influence on aevum and freeze time.

When time was frozen using aether, even my mana particles could not move. Aether had superior authority over mana, but it was not absolute. The relationship between them was not like water in a cup or two oceans colliding. Mana could influence aether to a limited extent, while aether could effortlessly create waves in mana.

During my use of Integrate, I had borrowed Sylvia's Realmheart, not my own. I had been merely utilizing her power, without truly connecting with it. While it was effective, it was not truly mine.

When Sylvia brought me to the ethereal space, no mana responded to my call. It felt as though I had no mana core, but Sylvia's beast will deep within my orange core stirred.

Golden runes spread across my skin, my auburn hair turned wheat-blonde, and my iris became golden.

A simple gesture with my hand freed me from the aether binding the space, returning me to the room.

I could sense the mana particles in the air, alongside the aether particles. Intrigued, I reached out to them.

With just a thought, the ambient mana responded to my will. However, aether refused. I used more force, and some aether finally moved.

When it did, I felt truly powerful.

In my past life, I had been a king, but this was the first time I experienced true divine power at my fingertips.

Motes of aether connected before me, causing me to teleport out of the room and back to the outside world.

Breathing heavily from the continued use of Realmheart, I touched a nearby tree and injected it with aether.

The tree grew, sprouting branches and leaves, and a smile appeared on my face.

Aevum, vivum, and spatium.

While dragons had only mastered one branch of aether, I had influence over all of them.

Realmheart.

The power of the dragons paled in comparison to the power I now held in my hands.

|Alice Leywin|

"Do you have any news about Arthur?" I asked with a tremble in my voice, desperate for any shred of information.

Rey and Vincent shared a look of defeat before shaking their heads. My heart sank, the weight of the two-month long search for my missing son bearing down on me.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my emotions. It had been two months since the artifact on my ring had alerted me to Arthur's disappearance. Despite our efforts and countless inquiries to the Adventurer's guild, we had no luck in finding him.

We did find Jasmine, one of the members from his party, but she was guilt-ridden and unable to save Arthur. She had informed us about Gary Whiteborn, the leader of the party, who was now in a coma. The party had encountered an illusion attack, and Arthur was missing ever since.

The dungeon they were exploring had been rated as S-class due to the presence of a Sky Griffin, which suggested the existence of an SS-class boss monster that might be responsible for Arthur's disappearance.

Sylvie, my daughter, had also returned from the beast glades, unable to find any trace of her brother. We were at our wits' end.

But just as we were discussing our next course of action, a familiar knock interrupted us.

My heart raced as I rushed to the door, hoping beyond hope that it was Arthur.

And there he was - my son, standing in front of me. He looked exhausted, with his auburn hair disheveled and his eyes heavy-lidded, but he was alive.

Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tightly before breaking down into tears on his shoulder.

After two months of agony, my son was finally home.

|Arthur|

My heart sank as I watched my mother break down in front of me once again. I couldn't bear to imagine the pain she had endured due to my dangerous ability to attract trouble.

After she had calmed down, I was escorted to the living room where my parents interrogated me about what had happened.

Sylvie immediately chimed in, 'Papa, are you okay?'

'I'm more than okay, Sylvie,' I mentally reassured her.

I lied, telling them that Gary and I had encountered an SS-class beast that was too powerful for us to defeat. We barely managed to escape with our lives, and I had been in a coma for several weeks as a result of my injuries. A kind elder had nursed me back to health and I had rushed home as soon as I was able.

My mother and sister looked at me with sad expressions, clearly distressed by my story.

"Why didn't the elder report your injuries to the authorities?" my father asked suspiciously.

"He was an elf and didn't have much communication with humans," I lied smoothly, hoping to convince him.

"Where are the Helsteas?" I inquired curiously.

"Vincent and Tabitha went to the Adventurer's Guild for an update on your situation, while Lilia went to her friend's estate. Her friend is planning to visit Xyrus City soon, so she'll be staying with us for a few days," my mother replied.

Although I wasn't quite ready to give up adventuring yet, I decided to take a break and spend some quality time with my family for a few months before returning to the dangerous world of dungeon crawling. After all, I still had more than a year until I enrolled in Xyrus Academy.

|Rachel|

"It's been a pleasure to see you again, Lilia," I beamed as I grasped her hands.

"Likewise! Let's get together again in a few days!" Lilia chirped before boarding her carriage and departing for Xyrus City.

As I watched her leave, I couldn't help but think about the character traits I had read about her in the book. She seemed like a genuinely good person, and I was excited to have the opportunity to get to know her better.

I couldn't wait to visit Xyrus City myself. Even if Arthur wasn't there, I would have the chance to meet the rest of the Leywin family and possibly even Eleanor. It was an opportunity I didn't want to miss.

|Lancelot|

"I really didn't want to come along with your shenanigans, Rachel," I grumbled, staring out of the carriage window.

We had finally arrived in Xyrus City, which was more developed than Valden City, despite the latter being the third-largest city in Sapin. Still, it was no match for the Royal Capital of the Clover Kingdom. Comparing the two was unfair, but it was hard not to feel underwhelmed by Xyrus City's upcoming status.

"I wouldn't call it shenanigans, Lancelot," Rachel replied, flicking her golden hair over her shoulder. She met my gaze with her sapphire eyes and continued, "I've been wanting to visit Xyrus City for a while now, and staying with Lilia would be nice. Plus, we'll get to see Arthur again."

"Hmm," I murmured, studying her carefully.

Arthur. I had almost forgotten about him. He was talented, that much was certain. Achieving light red stage at the age of eight was impressive. But to us, he was just another stepping stone on our way to greatness.

Especially Gary. He was a monster in his own right, and even when we fought, I knew he wasn't going all out.

As I lost myself in thought, my gaze lingered on Rachel for a moment too long. She shot me a warning look, and I quickly turned my attention back to the city outside.

"How much longer until we arrive?" Rachel asked, breaking the silence.

"Ten minutes, Young Lady, Young Master," the driver replied.

Rachel gestured toward the dozen yellow-stage guards our fathers had sent with us. "Did we really need this much security?"

"As the heir to a Marquis's family and you, a Count's family, this might even be considered too little," I reminded her.

Soon enough, we arrived at the Helstea mansion, where Lilia and her family, along with the Leywins, were there to greet us. I spotted Arthur, with a white fox-like creature perched on his head, but something was different about him.

My skin prickled with goosebumps as I looked at him, the same sensation I felt when I gazed at Gary.

'Has he reached that level?' I wondered. 'Did he bridge that gap in just three years?'